The Brotherhood of Sin
by Jooles1
Summary: Only a few Stars of Destiny remains as a brotherhood has wiped most of them out. On every scene, they've left a dagger with an engraving: Vi skall förgöra er alla **UPDATED** (including small prologue changes)
1. Prologue

(Note: It's been a while since I played Suikoden 2 and I'm not sure of certain things, like what happened to the Stars of Destiny after the war or for example where Karen were staying. However, I hope that you will take these facts in consideration when you R&R it, which I hope you will do…and for this novel I've chosen the best ending…the one where…you know…heh…Anyway, since Riou has been the name spoken of in the novel, I've chosen to use it for "Hero2", Also, as I recall the army's called Dunan, but I'm not sure at all about this…Also, the story takes place around a year after the Dunan Unification War, which is the name (I think) for "Suikoden2's war")  
  
The Brotherhood of Sin  
  
Prologue  
  
The bright light danced across the room of the Kuskus Inn, the rising sun was prettier than ever. Karen rose partially and stretched her arms over her head with a yawn, the gold bracelets around her wrists descending slightly. As she ran her fingers through her hair she noticed that it was in a bit of a mess. She had a habit of tossing and turning when she was warm, and according to the white nightgown – covered with small lace embroideries at the neckband – she had indeed been sweating.  
  
She looked out the window. A slight breeze curling the silk curtains reminded her of the wonderful picnic with Esteban that would come later this day. Esteban, who is a soldier in the Dunan army – which was also the place where they met- made Karen swoon, almost anyway, just by looking at her with those dark intense eyes he has.  
  
For a short moment, she smiled; but as quickly as her smiling expression appeared, it merged into a horrific ear-piercing scream as a man covered entirely in silver - including around his head, revealing only his cold, lifeless eyes- appeared from nowhere and plunged a dagger into her body. Quickly, the surrounding area of the dagger turned crimson. The assassin walked away, his silver clothing shone brightly as the sun reflected on it. The only thing he left behind was the bloody dagger, with a small engraving on the blade: Vi skall förgöra er alla.  
  
------  
  
Hoi, once again roaming the world in his search for free food and accommodation appearing to be Lord Riou, has now entered Banner village, taking the boat from Radat.  
  
"Thank you for letting me accompany you, fisherman." Hoi said, trying to sound as noble as he possibly could. As he had journeyed across the former City-State of Jowston, he had learned that the people expected Riou to be of royal birth.  
  
At one time, he had overheard a conversation between a merchant and surely half the restaurant's guests, in which he was at that time eating, including some of the maids. The merchant spoke of magnificent expeditions and heroic deeds with Lord Riou as the leader, that he had been involved in all of the recent wars around the world – which seemed strange since two of the wars took place at the same time, at two places very far from each other. He also spoke of Lord Riou being Barbarossa's son in, as well as the rightful leader of Harmonia and countries far beyond the Grasslands. Of course, the merchant's throat was very dry and the guests kept calling the maids for more sake.  
  
"...R?…Sir?" Hoi almost fell to the ground, surprised of "waking" up from his thoughts. He had done it once again, losing himself for the depths of his head. It was a common occurrence these days.  
  
He nodded to the fisherman before turning the other way around, embarking on his way towards the Toran Republic. As he came out in the woods he started to wander off once again, never noticing the man in silver coming towards him with a dagger in his hand. From a distance, the blade looked like an ordinary one but if Hoi had looked, he would have seen an engraving: Vi skall förgöra er alla  
  
------  
  
"Have they been eliminated?" The rough voice asked, mildly irritated that his plans had not yet been achieved.  
  
"No, Maestre…not yet." A voice with a familiar ring to it said. Even though this spell protected him from any curious eyes: The only thing his assassins saw was the wall behind him; but in turn, all he saw was the wall behind them. This proved to be quite problematic at certain times, but he couldn't risk that his identity were to be exposed. If his assassins learned of it, they could betray him if they were caught.  
  
"How far have you gotten?" the man referred to as Maestre asked.  
  
"Only a few remain now that Karen and Hoi are dead, but they are among the deadliest. Our attempt to kill Viktor failed as well as against Shu, although his bodyguards are no more." Once again, the familiar voice spoke.  
  
The Maestre could almost sense this assassin's thirst for blood, and he knew that the man had smiled when anything had been said, that even remotely had reminded him of death, killing and blood. It was then that he knew whom the voice belonged to…  
  
--TO BE CONTINUED-- 


	2. The Return of a Hero

(Note: Yes, there's an incredibly cheesy event with the letter…smudge…hoho…could you not have done better? ~_^ Also, is that thing on Riou's forehead supposed to be a circlet or what? And yet another comment for all those silly boys & göjlz out there: the Italics part's the stuff that has happened sorta. He's reminiscing in a way, to tell you what has happened…)  
  
The Brotherhood of Sin  
  
1 Chapter 1: The return of a Hero  
  
A young boy stood at the entrance of the castle next to the Dunan Lake with a black cloak and hood.  
  
"It has been so long." He said, a little sad. Memories of soldiers and generals under his command submerged; Kiba and Ridley both died during the war, but now there had been more victims. Friends from the war…all dead. Most of them had been assassinated, according to Freed…  
  
1.1 A week ago  
  
Riou, standing in the middle of the market, called for Nanami. Where could she be? He wondered. Suddenly, two hands grabbed both his shoulders. He twirled around while pushing himself away from the hands, finally standing in a battle-stance. Finding his attacker to be a brown-haired girl with a smile on her face shocked him a little; prepared to find a muscular man with a huge beard and a hairy chest as he was.  
  
"Did I scare you, little brother?" Her smile became wider.  
  
"A little surprised, that's all." Riou answered, lying through his teeth.  
  
"I believe you, oh brother dearest. Where did Jowy go?"  
  
"He went to find a birthday present for Pilika. He said he would be back soon." Riou noticed that Nanami suppressed a yawn; her upper lip started to tremble. She always does that, never showing any signs of exhaustion, injuries or anything similar, at least not in front of me. I can't understand why, though. A sister has to be able to lean on her brother's shoulder, but in her eyes she thinks that she would become a burden. Riou's thoughts were cut off as he saw Jowy approaching from behind Nanami, obviously trying to pull the same stunt on her as she did on him. A few seconds later, Jowy was on the hard ground while Riou was still trying to figure out what he had seen. Jowy had been right behind Nanami, just about to put his hands on her shoulders when she had grabbed his wrist and threw him over her shoulder.  
  
When Nanami had helped Jowy up, Jillia joined them, holding Pilika's hand in hers.  
  
"Uncle Jowy, you have soot in your face." Pilika said, smiling broadly. She walked up to Jowy, whom were bending, and wiped some dirt off of his face.  
  
"Thanks Pilika." He said, his eyes shining with joy.  
  
It was at that moment Riou truly realized how happy Jowy truly was with his new life, living in peace with Pilika and Jillia.  
  
Once again, Nanami hid a yawn, this time with her hand, pretending to wipe something off of her chin.  
  
"Nanami, you're tired. You should go back to the inn." Riou urged a bit worriedly.  
  
"I'm fine, Riou. Besides, if I were asleep who would protect you?!"  
  
"Don't worry about it. I'll be fine. Now go back to the inn and get some sleep. We'll be joining you shortly."  
  
After many buts and ifs, Nanami went back to the inn after making Riou promise that he and the others would follow shortly.  
  
They had only walked around for ten minutes or so before a familiar man came towards them.  
  
Freed was a rather handsome man with short black hair and a white suit with green on the sides together with a sword on his back. He also wore glasses, which in fact didn't make him look less good-looking; instead, they suited him well. As he approached the company, Riou noticed that he was walking in a rather peculiar way.  
  
"Freed! Long time no see. What in heaven's name are you doing here?" It was a long time Riou had seen anyone from the war and the fact that Freed stood in front of him made him rather ecstatic.  
  
"R…Riou. T-thank god I…" He paused to cough before continuing in his almost painful way to speak. "Some…someone is wiping out the s-stars…m…y pocket…" He gave out a moan before falling forward, collapsing at the party's feet. Pilika let out a scream as her eyes fastened on the dagger sticking out of Freed's back. Jillia was soon to cover Pilika's eyes with her hands, before leading her away from Freed.  
  
"Freeeeed!" Riou fell to his knees next to Freed, rolling him over. Freed stared up in the sky with a glassy look.  
  
"I'm sorry, Riou." Jowy said sincere and laid his hand on Riou's shoulder. Riou, in turn, put his hand on top of Jowy's.  
  
"Thank you, my friend. I cannot let his death be in vain. He came here to tell me something and I intend to find out what." Still with tears in his eyes, he went through Freed's pockets in search for what it was he had mentioned. He found a crumpled up letter inside one of the pockets, which he opened hastily, that read:  
  
------  
  
Lord Riou.  
  
If you are reading this the same assassins that have killed several of the Stars of Destiny have killed me. Only a few remain. I have written this down since I fear they are after me. I do not fear for my own life, but I must let you know about them before it's too late. I fear that they have followed even to the outskirts of the Grasslands. I know that you are close but I cannot trust myself enough to not write this letter. The assassins are known as The Brotherhood of Sin. Why they have killed our comrades, I do not know, but they are indeed the ones responsible. The brothers-in-arms which Shu and I have been able to locate have been urged to take refugee in Dunan Castle for now. Shu barely escaped recently from Radat at the expense of his bodyguards. A single person attacked them! A man dressed entirely in silver revealing only his eyes. This is all I have time to tell you. Hopefully I will get to you in time.  
  
Freed  
  
------  
  
Riou folded the letter and put it in his pocket. "I'm sorry, Freed." He said, giving the dead Freed a sad look, before speaking to Jowy about what was said in the letter as well as what they should do next.  
  
"We should probably try to get some sleep and leave first thing in the morning. We must also journey swiftly, but Pilika wouldn't make it. However, there still remains the matter of Pilika and Jillia's safety should they stay here." Jowy said.  
  
"I agree. Also, regarding the safety of your family; we will inform them of the situation and let Nanami watch over them on their voyage back." Riou replied.  
  
"We should leave the matter of telling Nanami of our plans to Jillia, since Nanami would want to come along and protect you."  
  
"Yes. I don't like doing that to Nanami but under these circumstances I would have suggested the same thing." Riou answered. "We should get to bed. Morning comes early around these parts…"  
  
------  
  
Riou's thoughts were swept away as Jowy put his hand on Riou's shoulder.  
  
"I remember watching this castle from a distance, always wondering what you were doing." Jowy said, a bit sadly. "Come. Let's join your friends." Jowy continued and motioned with his other hand towards the main gate.  
  
Walking through the gates made his head flood with memories, once again thinking about Ridley and Kiba, but also more joyful memories; climbing the northern hillside, playing chinchorin with Shilo and watching Mukumuku jump off from the ledge, soaring through the air. There were countless memories. Alas, new memories were beginning to form as this tragic scenario continued. Riou feared that they would not be as happy.  
  
"Is it…is it really you? Riou?" A slender hand moved the hood from Riou's head, revealing his boyish looks and circlet around his temples. The hand belonged to an astoundingly good-looking man with a blue bandana around his temples together with a blue cape and a bluish armor. It was not for nothing they called him Flik 'of the Blue Lightning'.  
  
"Hey Flik. Long time no see." Riou said excitedly.  
  
"Yes, it has been far too long. I only wish the circumstances could have been better." It was then that he saw Jowy behind Riou. "Jowy, I'm glad to see that you are alright."  
  
"Likewise." Jowy nodded in unison.  
  
"Come" Flik began, "Let's see your old friends. They are all gathered in the Great Hall."  
  
------  
  
The greetings made Riou ecstatic but he couldn't rejoice; There were far too many that wasn't there greeting him. Twenty-five faces at the most. Too many faces were missing; Huan, Tuta, Killey, Alex and his wife Hilda, the squirrels and most recently: Freed…the list seemed to go on and on forever. Tears began to cloud his eyes, and he fell on one knee, tears falling down his cheeks.  
  
"I-I couldn't protect them…" he said and darkness engulfed his eyes. The last thing he heard was Jowy's voice collapsed with a thud on the floor.  
  
------  
  
Bright light surrounded Riou's vision as he opened his eyes. When he had adjusted them to the surroundings he noticed that he was at his private chambers he used when he was the Dunan army's leader. Jowy sat next to him, just realizing that Riou had awakened.  
  
"Thank god, I was starting to get worried. You've been unconscious for two days. How are you feeling?" Jowy said with a worried look on his face.  
  
"I'm alright, thank you for asking. Tell Shu to gather the Stars of Destiny in the great hall. It is time we stop defending and start attacking."  
  
--TO BE CONTINUED-- 


End file.
